Eyeglass construction



July 14, 1936. NERNEY 2,047,646-

EYEGLAS S CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 50, 1954 INVENTOR v 607'E.]Verne ATTORNEYS Patented July 14, 1936 PATENT OFFICE EYEGLASS CONSTRUCTION George E. Nerney, Attleboro, Mass, assignor to Bay State Optical Company, Attleboro, Mass, a corporation of Maine Application January 30, 1934, Serial No. 708,948

4 Claims. (01. 8844) This invention relates to eyeglass construction and more particularly to a frame known as an Oxford frame.

One of: the objects of thisinvention is to provide an eyeglass construction which is simple, thoroughly practical and durable in use. Another object is to providea construction of the above character which will be inexpensive in manufacture and which may be easily and rapidly assembled. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character which will be light, graceful and pleasing in appearance. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character in which the frame may be folded into a compact form and which may be readily released therefrom intoan open position.

Another object is to provide a construction of the above character adequately strong to withstand repeated opening and closing. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character in which the frame may be folded into a closed position without fouling certain of the parts thereof. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of, which will be indicated in the following claims.

In' the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a frame having the features of my invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the frame shown in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the frame shown in Figure 1 folded into closed position, and

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view, partly broken away, of a portion of the frame shown in Figure l.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the draw- As conducive to a clearer understanding of certain features of this invention, it might here be pointed out that oxford frames have a number of inherent defects which materially detract from their durability, easy operation, and graceful ap pearance. Some of the frames, in order to par- "tially overcome inherent weaknesses of construction, are so reenforced as "to appear bulky or clumsy while being worn. defects in frames of this type appears when they One of the greatest are folded'into their closed position. When thus folded, one lens must of course pass over and. ultimately register with the other lens. In order to do'this, one of them must be forced out of line by twisting the bridge or other parts of the 5 frame. It is clear then that repeated closing will soon weaken various parts of the frame to a point where they will be damaged beyond repair.

A further risk of scratching the lens surfaces as they pass over each other during folding is also encountered. Where nose guards are secured to the rims of these frames, as is often the case, they often foul during the closing of the frame, thus to further Weaken the whole assembly. One

of the objects of this invention is to provide an oxford frame in which the above difficulties as well as numerous-others are rectified.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a frame having a pair of rims I0 and II completely encircling and holding in position a pair of lenses I2 and I3. Rims Ill and II may be of any suitable construction and are split at the points I4 and 15 in order that the lenses may be disposed therein.

Preferably I provide a suitable bridge IE or the I like to bridge the space between rims Ill and H and maintain them in proper relation to one another. Bridge IE is secured to rims III and It by a pair of fittings generally indicated at I! and I8 respectively which will be more fully described hereinafter.

I provide a pair of nose guards generally indicated at 19 and 20 having arms [9a and 20a secured, as by soldering for example, to the end portions of the bridge 16. As nose guards l9 and 5 it! are substantially similar in construction, nose guard 20 only will be described in detail. With reference to Figures 2 and 4, arm 20a of nose guard 20 extends rearwardly of bridge I6 and then a portion 201) extends downwardly. A 40 curved portion 200 extends a short distance in substantially parallel relation with bridge I6 and then curves rearwardly therefrom to form a noseengaging portion 20d.

As more clearly shown in Figure 2, all portions of nose guard 20 with the exception of arm 20w are spaced to the rear of the plane of rims Ill and II. As both nose guards l9 and 20 are immovably secured to bridge Hi, the danger of their fouling with one another or with either of the rims when the frame is folded into a closed position is obviated, all as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Bridge I6 is preferably of a slightly resilient character in order that nose guards l9 and 20 may be securely fitted to the wearers nose without excessive or uncomfortable pinching. Extending from each end of bridge I6, I preferably provide respective pairs of lugs Mia and [6b on the right (Figure 2) and Ila and "b on the left hand end thereof. As both pairs of lugs are substantially similar in construction, lugs Ilia and E612 as well as the parts associated therewith will be described in detail.

Lug [6a is provided with a bore [6d preferably threaded and coextensive with the thickness of the lug and has formed therein a notch l6c or the like, while lug 612 is also provided with a bore lSe preferably larger in diameter than bore led and also coextensive with the thickness of lug ISb.

Fitting I8 is preferably secured to rim II at a point near the abutting ends thereof, and includes a barrel portion 2| or the like having a suitable bore extending therethrough coaxial with bores ltd and we; suitably formed in one end of barrel 2| is a slot 2la. Lugs [6a and I62) fit over the opposite ends of barrel 2| and disposed within the barrel is a spring 22 having its end 22b in slot I60 and its end 22a in slot 2|a. Extending through bore IBe, spring 22 and threaded into bore Hid is a screw 23. The head of screw 23 is disposed within bore 16a of lug Nib in a flush position. Accordingly, it will be seen that I have provided a thoroughly practical spring joint, the spring 22 being of suitable strength to bias rim ll toward an open position or that position shown in Figure 1.

It will now become clear that spring 22 forces rim II to pivot about screw 23 as an axis to assume the above-mentioned open position until a stop 24 secured to barrel 2! abuts against the top of portion 20a of nose guard 20. Also during this pivotal movement of rim I I, it as well as its connected parts is completely out of engagement with noseguard 20. As more clearly shown in Figure 2, rim H is secured to fitting H3 at one end thereof hereinafter called the front end. Rim IE), however, is secured to fitting I! at the rearward end thereof with respect to the position of fitting I8. By thus securing the rims respectively to the front and rear ends of fittings I8 and ll, the rims do not lie in the same plane and accordingly will not foul one another when folded into their closed position (Figure 3).

For purposes of illustration, the planes of the two rims are shown as spaced from one another a greater distance than that usually found in practical embodiments of this frame.

By thus offsetting the planes of rim I0 and rim l l, lenses l2 and I3 may be readily folded one over the other into a superimposed position without exerting any twisting strains on bridge I6 or fittings l1 and I8, and, by the same token, the frame may be release-d into an open position more readily than if the lenses lay in the same plane when in open position. In order to hold the lenses together in closed position, I preferably provide a suitable latch 25 secured to rim 1 l and projection 26 on rim l0 which will engage with latch 25 and so hold rims Hi and H in their closed position as more clearly shown in Figure 3.

A pair of parts 2? and 28 are respectively secured in any suitable manner to the abutting ends of rim II. Part 27? is preferably joined to barrel 2! as at point 27a and has a threaded bore extending part way therethrough (not shown). Part 28 has a larger bore (not shown) extending completely therethrough which receives a screw 29 which is in threaded engagement with the bore in part 21 to hold the ends of rim H together and to suitably hold lens l3 therein. Lens [2 is held within rim If] by a substantially similar construction (Figure 1). 5

It will thus be seen that I have provided an oxford frame in which the lenses may be folded one over the other without materially engaging or fouling with one another during the folding operation. It will likewise be seen that the nose guards l9 and 20, being rigidly secured to bridge I6, are not displaced during the closing or opening of the rims Ill and H, thus avoiding any risk of bothersome and damaging interference therebetween. Due to the relative ease with which 15 my frame may be opened or closed, the whole assembly is adequately protected against breakage even with hard use. Accordingly the several objects hereinabove referred to as well as many others are successfully accomplished.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompany- 5 ing drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In eyeglass construction, in combination, a substantially rigid bridge member, a pair of rigid 30 nose guards immovably secured to said bridge member and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom, a pair of rims pivotally secured to the ends of said bridge member in spaced parallel planes which planes are spaced from said 35 nose guards, and means connected to said rims and said bridge member to hold said rims in extended relation whereby said rims may move free of each other and free of said nose guards into juxtaposed position without distortion of said bridge member when said rims are pivoted.

2. In eyeglass construction, in combination, a substantially rigid bridge member, a pair of rigid nose guards immovably secured to said bridge member and extending downwardly and outwardly 45 therefrom, a pair of rims pivotally secured to the ends of said bridge member in spaced parallel planes, said planes being spaced from said nose guards, and springs connected to said rims and said bridge member to bias said rims in opposite directions whereby said rims may move free of each other and free of said nose guards into juxtaposed position without distortion of said bridge member when said rims are pivoted.

3. In eyeglass construction, in combination, a substantially rigid bridge member, a pair of rigid nose guards immovably secured to said bridge member and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom, a pair of rims pivotally secured to the ends of said bridge member in spaced parallel planes which planes are spaced from said nose guards, springs connected to said rims and said bridge member to bias said rims in opposite directions whereby said rims may move free of each other and free of said nose guards into juxtaposed position without distortion of said bridge member when said rims are pivoted, and means on said rims limiting the outward movement of said rims with respect to said bridge member. 7

4. In eyeglass construction, in combination, a pair of rims, a substantially rigid bridge member having a pair of lugs at each end thereof, a pair of fittings, one of said fittings being secured to each of said rims and said fittings being offset with respect to each other, a spring disposed in each of said fittings, pin means extending through said lugs and said fittings to pivotally mount said rims in spaced parallel planes to move free of each other into and out of a juxtaposed position, each of said springs being connected to one of said lugs and one of said fittings to bias said rims in opposite directions, and a pair of rigid nose guards rigidly secured to said bridge member and spaced out of the path of movement of said rims.

GEORGE E. NERNEY. 

